Trojan Horse Memorial

Trojan Horse Memorial was unveiled in Athlone as a remembrance of the three victims who were killed by the security police on 15 October 1985. The massacre reflected the apartheid government’s growing desperation to quell social unrest and protests in the townships of the Western Cape.

On the day of the incident, security police worked together with railway police to crush a gathering of the youth who were protesting against the apartheid government. A South African Railways truck was loaded with crates close to the edges of the truck, but the middle part of the truck was unloaded to create space for the police to hide. The truck drove down Thornton Road to the middle of the protest with armed police hidden behind the crates. The armed police, hiding behind the crates then sprang up and opened fire, killing three young people, Jonathan Claasen, aged 21, Shaun Magmoed, aged 15, Michael Miranda, aged 11. Several others were injured.